History Lessons
by aserene
Summary: History can come from anywhere at anytime. Jen and Gibbs have their own lessons...
1. History Lessons

Title: History Lessons: NCIS Style Title: History Lessons: NCIS Style

**Rating: Varied**

**Spoilers: To Be Announced.**

**Summary: History is always lurking around the corner…we either learn from it or we go round in circles.**

**Author's Note: Okay so this series was created from the Jibbs forums, where I happened to give a little history lesson one day. The lessons shall be continued, so watch out class is in session.**

**And as always there will be Jibbs. **


	2. Beware the Ides

**Title: Beware the Ides**

**Rating: T**

**Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of its characters**

**Spoilers: Nope.**

**Summary: Beware the Ides of March…some warnings should not be taken lightly.**

**Author's Note: So my dears here is your history based story for the month (I bet you all thought I forgot. Sadly not the case). Your lesson will be at the end. p.s. this was going somewhere, and then as most stories tend to, veered in a completely different path.**

* * *

The scene was grisly; the body seeped in blood from countless knife wounds. Gibbs looked down and studied the dead Commander's face in detail. He'd seen a lot of dead bodies in his time but none that had him so baffled. The number of wounds seemed a bit excessive, even for a rage killing. Ducky was beside him trying to estimate time of death and if perhaps there was more than one killer. The rest of the team was processing the scene, McGee taking photos, Tony and Ziva bickering. Jimmy Palmer was aiding Ducky in the counting of wounds and writing the preliminary diagnosis.

"I must say Jethro, whoever did this surely wanted to make a point, why it reminds me of…" Just as Gibbs was tuning out his friend, Ziva's voice cut through.

"Gibbs I think you want to see this," She called. Gibbs followed her voice into the side room and glanced at the wall. Smeared in blood were the words_ Rome shall have no king._

"Rome shall have no king, movie reenactment gone wrong Boss," Tony concluded.

"Well then find me the other actors DiNozzo!" Gibbs ordered.

"On it Boss!" Gibbs went about examining the rest of the room and opened the closet. That turned out to be a bad idea. A whirling mass came full force at him and he instinctively defended himself, feeling a sharp pain to his arm. Tony and Ziva quickly helped restrain the assailant and Gibbs got up in his face. "Who are you?"

"A servant of the Republic," the man responded teeth barred. 

"Jethro you should take him in, he's clearly toxicant with something," Ducky said from the doorway observing the scene. Gibbs nodded and Tony and Ziva led the man to the car. 

"Boss," McGee stuttered.

"What?"

"Boss your arm!" Gibbs looked down to find red and dimly remembered the pain he had felt.

"Oh Jethro, let me see that," Ducky said going to his friend's side. "It's deep but I could probably fix it up."

"No hospitals Duck," Gibbs protested. Ducky inclined his head in acceptance and called for McGee to get his bag. He rummaged through it but couldn't find everything he needed. 

"Well we'll put pressure on it and try and stop the bleeding, I'll sew you up when we get back to NCIS. You really need to be more careful Jethro."

"Ducky…" Ducky simply ignored the younger man's glare and told McGee to get Gibbs in the car. They were done here.

* * *

"Director, Agent Gibbs is back with his team," Cynthia's voice announced over the intercom. 

"Thank you Cynthia," Jenny answered. 

"Director, Officer David is here."

"Send her in." The redhead shifted her paperwork to the side of her desk. She really hoped this was not work related. Ziva entered looking haggard and Jenny felt her stomach clench. "Are there any leads?"

"We have a suspect in custody, I will be interviewing him."

"Gibbs busy with some gut induced theory?"

"Gibbs is with Ducky, the suspect will at the very least be charged with assaulting a federal officer." Jenny felt her stomach tighten further. 

"How bad?" She questioned.

"It doesn't look bad, but…" Jenny stood and walked toward the door, Ziva trailing her. "Jenny I'm sure he's fine."

"I was going to interview the suspect," Jenny covered.

"Jenny…" she sighed her friend hearing it and letting out a low chuckle. 

"Fine, fine, I'll go see how Gibbs is."

"You know it's in both of your best interest," Ziva teased as Jenny stepped on the elevator. Jenny nodded and kept her façade in place till the doors closed. The worry came then. Even though Ziva assured her he was fine, Jenny knew just how trouble would find Leroy Jethro Gibbs. She wandered in the doors of autopsy and felt her heart stop as her eyes observed the scene in front of her. Gibbs was laying on the autopsy table, Ducky standing over him, blood on his scrubs. She clutched the coffee cup in her hand and wondered what could have gone so wrong in the few minutes it had taken Ziva to come upstairs and relay the message. Her first instinct was to run, to run from this scene that couldn't be real, but instead she swallowed and straightened and walked over, her heels giving a comforting click against the floor. 

"Ah Director," Ducky greeted glancing up at her. "He'll be finished momentarily." She wasn't sure she could speak and so nodded. 

"Something wrong with your vocal chords, Director?" She glanced down, his voice a reassurance, and found his crystal blue eyes open, life sparkling within them. She swallowed again.

"Nothing is wrong with my vocal chords Agent Gibbs, however it would appear something is very wrong with your reflexes." 

"His reflexes will be fine after this. Though he should probably take it easy," Ducky informed Jenny his meaning not missed.

"I'll see to it." 

"You know I can hear you," Gibbs reminded.

"Good. Then I won't have to repeat Ducky's warnings," Jenny remarked. Gibbs glared at her; she ignored it and watched as Ducky finished stitching him up. When he realized his glare was ineffective he began to study her appearance as she focused in on Ducky like a first year medical student. He wondered why she had been so pale when she'd come in. _Perhaps she still hasn't gotten over autopsies,_ he laughed silently. 

"There you go Jethro," Ducky commented. "Good as new, try not to pull out the stitches and rest the arm."

"Yea, okay," Gibbs replied wanting to escape. Jenny stepped back to let Gibbs off the table.

"Any other injuries?" She inquired.

"None that would require stitches," Ducky answered. "Now Mr. Palmer, bring in the poor Commander."

"Yes Doctor."

"Ducky…"

"When I know you'll know Jethro, now out," Gibbs led Jenny out and into the elevator, he hit the button for the squad room, she hit the emergency stop. He met her eyes curiously.

"Care to fill me in?"

"Commander stabbed to death at least 23 times, blood on the wall smeared read 'Rome Shall Have No King,' our suspect claims he's a servant of the Republic," he recited. 

"Rome?" She echoed confused, some of it was ringing bells in her head_, but where's the connection?_ "Jethro what's today's date?"

"March 15," he replied confused. He met her eyes again but found they were far away, as if she were looking at something that only she could see. He knew that look she had it when she was piecing things together, she blinked twice and he knew her thoughts were completed.

"Ides of March." He nodded, sure he'd heard the saying, _a very long time ago, but what exactly does it have to do with the dead Commander?_

"Ides of March, great, that has to do with this…" He trailed off expecting her to finish but instead got a raised eyebrow. 

"You warned me not to take over your investigations."

"I never said you couldn't provide theories about the facts," he answered.

"Well I'm sure you can…"

"Jen, the Ides of March?" he asked directly.

"Julius Caesar was assassinated by the Roman Senate on the Ides of March. He was about to be proclaimed Emperor for Life when a group of senators including his friend Brutus stabbed him, 23 times."

"Uh huh, great, so someone wants to copy some famous assassination?"

"Well no…not exactly," she began. "One of the stories behind the founding of Rome's Republic is a story where a woman was raped by the tyrannical prince, she kills herself after making her father and husband swear they will seek revenge. It is her husband's friend Brutus who declares that Rome shall have no king, and kills the Prince and wipes out the Royal line," She explained. He stared at her for a minute, not exactly sure where she had acquired such knowledge and rather impressed. She noticed his silence and met his eyes to figure out what the problem was, he noticed her inquisitive glance.

"Okay so what you're saying is that someone killed the Commander because he was trying to resurrect some dead kingdom?" He teased trying to ignore the fact that what she had just told him was something he probably should have learned years ago.

"No Jethro, but its possible they were delusional or that he was a bastard and they wanted to deal with him. The manner suggests rage, but still 23 times is excessive, probably more than one person involved in it." The ringing of his cell phone interrupted her. 

"Gibbs." He answered shortly and she watched him listen intently to whoever was on the other end, hanging up just a minute later. "That was Abby and McGee apparently someone sent the Commander an email two days ago saying 'Beware the Ides.'"

"So he knew his death was coming," Jenny surmised. 

"Knew?"

"Well of course, that's what the seer told Caesar, Beware the Ides of March, haven't you ever heard the expression?" She inquired sassily. He ignored the dig and simply set the elevator back on course stepping off at the squad room with Jenny on his heels. 

"You're not leaning over my shoulder the entire time," he warned.

"And here I thought you wanted my help," she responded tauntingly. He simply gave her a Gibbs glare and grabbed another cup of coffee and headed toward the viewing room to watch Ziva interview the suspect, Jenny on his heels. They watched silently as Ziva questioned him. 

"He's not going to give it up?" Jenny said after a few minutes.

"Ziva can be persuasive."

"Jethro, she can't use those tactics. Not now," Jenny warned. Gibbs tapped the glass and Ziva left the room entering the viewing room moments later. 

"Gibbs, Director," she greeted. 

"He give you anything?"

"I'm not sure how long you've been there but all I've gotten is his rank and number."

"Fine go and…"

"Boss," Tony said entering the room. 

"DiNozzo?"

"I got something."

"Sometime today, Agent DiNozzo," Jenny said shortly. 

"Right well apparently the Commander was not well liked in his unit. There was a sexual harassment claim made against him by one of his officers' wife. She dropped the claim just two days after she filed it. No investigation performed, but word on the base was the unit was not happy about it." 

"And is this officer our suspect?"  
"No Boss, the officer is in mourning, his wife killed herself a few days after she dropped the claim." Gibbs pondered it for a moment before glancing at Jenny who looked equally deep in the thought. 

"Anything else?"

"The Commander was about to get a promotion, he has friends in high places." 

"DiNozzo, round up this unit, all of them get interviewed here, any resist arrest them. Ziva go with him."

"On it Boss." The two left just as McGee was entering the room. 

"Uh Boss?" McGee began hesitantly. Gibbs looked over at him. "Abby determined that there were at least five different blades used. She's running the cut marks through a database."

"Good work McGee," Gibbs praised. A guard from the suspect's room entered.

"Agent Gibbs, he's demanded to leave."

"He's not going anywhere," Gibbs assured following the guard out. "McGee help Abby, I want results in an hour." McGee nodded and went off back to the lab Jenny coming out of the viewing room as well. "Coming Jen?" She looked up to meet his eyes as he opened the door and allowed her to precede him in. 

"I demand to leave," the suspect growled. 

"You're not going anywhere," Jenny assured, she had her own issues with him. Gibbs glared at her momentarily and pulled a seat round to sit in front of him.

"Brutus right?" Gibbs greeted.

"That's what my unit calls me Sir." 

"Rank?"

"Ensign Sir."

"Ensign? You thinking of a career in the military son?" Gibbs inquired conversationally. 

"Yes Sir." 

"You do for a promotion?"

"Two months Sir."

"Good, good. Young men like you, that's what this military needs. Young men loyal to their Commanding officers." Jenny watched on in amazement, _he's being nice to the person who stabbed him? Where's the catch?_ "So your unit close?"

"Like family Sir."

"All of your unit?"

"All but the Commander."

"The black sheep?"

"No Sir just thinks he has the right to everything. He kept us alive in Iraq." 

"Good leader?"  
"Yes sir."

"He was getting promoted too, wasn't he?"

"Yes Sir." 

"Ah, anyone upset about that?" The Ensign fell silent at that. "He treat you like servants?"

"No Sir, we are servants to our country."

"To the US?"

"Of course Sir, to our way of life, and government."

"The Commander think the government has issues?"  
"None he discussed with me."

"So you're a servant to the Republic, our government." 

"And proud to be Sir."

"So that comment when we found you in the house, what's Rome got to do with the United States?"  
"Our government is based on the governments that developed in the ancient world, Rome and Greece." 

"History," Gibbs made a face of disgust. "That's her field," he said idly gesturing to Jenny. 

"History is important, we learn from it," the Ensign defended. Jenny looked from Gibbs to the younger man, noticing Gibbs calculated look of boredom.

"Well I agree with you," She commented. "The Commander was more like Agent Gibbs though wasn't he?"

"I wouldn't know ma'am."

"I think the Roman Republic ideas were beautiful," she baited.

"They were ma'am."

"Though many people tried to destroy it, people we might know as heroes now."

"Yes ma'am."  
"Tell me about them Ensign?" It wasn't difficult for Gibbs to see that the Ensign was enamored with Jen. It happened, and if he was honest it was a calculated move on his part. She'd distract him and he could find the piece he needed to nail him.

"There's lots of them, ma'am?"

"Yes, like Julius Caesar."

"Now there was a good man," Gibbs put in watching Jenny crinkle her forehead in what he knew was confusion and what the Ensign though was disgust.

"He wasn't good, he was trying to destroy the ideals of a civilization," the Ensign informed angrily. Jenny sensed the attitude shift and retreated slightly closer to Gibbs side. "He deserved to die."

"Like the Commander?" Jenny questioned softly.

"He tortured Luke's wife, threatened her all because she didn't want to have an affair with him, she didn't want to cheat on her husband!" 

"So you killed him!" Gibbs challenged.

"I didn't!"

"You did, we found you, with a knife, in a room next to where the Commander's dead body was resting!" 

"I didn't kill him!"

"Yes you did," Gibbs stated. "And we're going to make sure you go to jail for a long time because of it." The young man realized it was the end of the road. 

"I only helped, you'll never get us all!" 

"That's where your wrong," Gibbs replied opening the door as Ziva and Tony passed leading two more men in cuffs by the room. "You are all going down."

"That's not fair Sir! We gave him what he deserved! It was what we had to do!"

"There's something you should know about history," Jenny said to him. "It always runs in circles, the Republic fell because friend's of Caesar avenged his death." She left the room followed by Gibbs who told Ziva to take them all to booking and get them transferred. The two headed towards the lab, Gibbs going to get McGee, Jenny following along. 

"Have fun?" He asked her as they got on the elevator. She smirked. 

"I'm not going to miss the report writing," she sighed. "It's a shame, he had a bright career."

"They believed they were doing the right thing."

"Which doesn't justify it, but it makes it easier to go through with," she countered. He nodded in agreement. "At least they were creative." 

"Using a historical assassination method?" he joked. 

"At least it changes things up, though from what I heard the Commander had a bright career and a good life, he was just a bastard." She fell silent as they entered the lab and found Abby-lecturing McGee about some knife that was displayed on the screen. 

"Abby got anything?"

"Would I let you down like that Gibbs?" She questioned. He gave her a look that she knew meant get to the point. "Well I've identified the weapons, Ziva was kind enough to deliver examples and then she brought me the actual murder weapons. One guy apparently was displaying it on his wall? How sick is that?" 

"Abby…"  
"Right so anyways, these are the five weapons, definitely the murder weapons, I'm just waiting on Ducky to tell me which blow was fatal."

"Good work Abbs," Gibbs praised kissing her cheek and turning to go to autopsy only to be met with Ducky.

"Unfortunately Jethro I don't have as good news."

"What's wrong?" Jenny asked.

"None of the blows were fatal. It was a combination of all twenty three, he bled to death," Ducky informed. "It actually reminds me of the assassination of…"  
"Julius Caesar," Gibbs sighed in irritation_; this is the price I pay for failing history class._

"Well then case closed," Jenny concluded. 

"Director?"

"Cynthia, something the matter?" Jenny said noticing her assistant's sudden appearance.

"There's another case, all the teams are already out, and Agent DiNozzo said they just closed though…"

"How many cases have we had this morning?"

"Seven ma'am counting this one."

"Have the back up teams been called?"

"They're out in the field ma'am. Agent Gibbs' team is up next."

"Where?" Gibbs asked. Cynthia gave them the location and details. "McGee!"

"Gearing up and gassing the truck Boss."  
"And pick up Tony and Ziva."

"On it Boss." 

"I'll send Mr. Palmer with you to retrieve the body, I have a few other guests to attend to," Ducky informed. 

"Director, the SecNav would like you to call him back," Cynthia said.

"Of course, thank you Cynthia." She followed the younger woman out of the Lab glancing back briefly to catch Gibbs eye. _I love my job, I love my job,_ she repeated to herself as she and Cynthia headed upstairs and she got ready to deal with the SecNav.

* * *

Five conference calls with the SecNav later, Jenny finally got to leave her desk, she decided to go home. There was no use-tempting fate in remaining. She was unaware the SecNav was so superstitious, immediately blaming the unusual amount of murders on the fact that it was the Ides of March. She rubbed her temples as she felt the massive headache that would not let up no matter how many Advil she took. She walked to her car, grateful that she didn't have to drive herself home and was glad that the ride seemed to take less time than she would have usually expected. Only the front lights of her house were lit as she entered, no doubt left on by Noemi. A note on the entry table told her she wouldn't have to worry about eating out, food was ready in the fridge and as she sniffed the air she was sure Noemi could have only left minutes before she arrived. 

The house smelt like good food and she sighed in relief. Her security guard had checked the upstairs and bid her good night locking the front door on his way out. She marched straight into the kitchen and froze. Dinner was set out on the table, a glass of bourbon next to the plate. She was slightly uneasy, knowing Noemi wouldn't have done something like that. She wasn't seeing anyone so a romantic dinner was out of the question. She glanced around the room and noticed the backlight on. She slipped out of the kitchen and went into her study retrieving her gun before heading back to the door and the back porch. She opened the door slowly and heard a very familiar voice. 

"DiNozzo I told you not to super glue McGee's keyboard."

_"Boss I…"_

"Don't do it again!" She watched him hang up the phone and rub his fingers carefully. 

"Have a problem Jethro?" She inquired alerting him to her presences.

"You're early," he said surprised.

"Early? It's nine o'clock."

"Ah…Cynthia said you'd only left twenty minutes ago."

"Police escort almost all the way, the SecNav has gone paranoid that because of the high number of cases all the Agency Directors are targets. And just why was Cynthia telling you my comings and goings?"  
"I uh…asked her to?" He tried. 

"Uh huh." She reentered the house followed by him. "You do this?" She gestured to the kitchen.

"Actually Noemi did the cooking, I just set it out."

"Right…which brings us to exactly why are you in my house?"

"Can't a guy have dinner with his old partner?"  
"Except for the fact that you didn't bring dinner."  
"I did…Noemi's just looked better," he said. She glanced at the counter and sure enough sitting there was Chinese take out. 

"So what's this meal going to cost me?" She inquired slipping off her shoes and sitting down at the table gesturing for him to sit as well.

"You majored in political sciences," he said conversationally. She stopped fork half way to her mouth and looked at him curiously. They had done the getting to know you part years ago, and yes her education was certainly available for the public to know but he'd never taken such an interest in her formal schooling. 

"Was there a question in that?"

"Why not history?" She shrugged her shoulders.

"I have no idea, it doesn't mean much now, except that I have a degree."

"But you like history," he pointed out remembering the numerous occasions he'd been dragged through museums at her behest. 

"Its interesting, I think its important to know where you've come from."

"And not where you're going?" He asked curiously. He often wondered if she'd given any thought to what she'd do after being Director of a Federal Agency. Where her next step in the ladder would be. She didn't answer that, hiding her expression behind her glass of bourbon. 

"There a reason for the curiosity?" He shrugged his shoulders, not willing to admit he was interested in her. He'd thought he knew he pretty well, he'd always known she was smart and could talk about a number of subjects intelligently, but sometimes he never considered just how smart she was. In their line of work you didn't need academics; you needed experience. "How'd the case go?"

"Fine. Reports will be on your desk in the morning."

"At least you finished both cases, two teams are still out." Four more cases had come in after Gibbs had left the second time. 

"Beware the Ides," he said skeptically. 

"The SecNav certainly is adhering to that, a healthy concern is not a bad thing, paranoia is," she responded. 

"You dismissed your detail."

"I always do, this is my house Jethro, I don't need protection here." He nodded in understanding. "I haven't gotten any threats, so I'm not to worried about the Ides of March. You apparently should be, you're the one who got stabbed." 

"It's nothing."

"Of course its nothing."

"Of course," he agreed mockingly, she glared and dinner was finished with small talk. He tried to help her clean up but more often than not flicked water at her and she finally lost her patience banishing him to the study. When she finished she found him browsing her impressive book collection mumbling to himself what were no doubt satirical remarks about it. "_An Imperfect God, George Washington, his slaves, and the creation of America_, sounds tortuous."

"It was." He turned to look at her as she approached him. "Very dry, but interesting, you wouldn't like it." 

"You never know."

"I had to listen to it on tape, just to get through it."

"Point taken," he paused staring at the shelves again. "You know for all your talk of him you don't have any books on Caesar."

"Its on my nightstand, I'm rereading it." 

"Before you go to sleep?" He tossed out. She was not biting that one that was territory she wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole, but knew she could put the focus back on him.

"I don't build boats all night long."

"You read? Sounds tedious, but maybe I should try it," he remarked his eyes filled with mischief.

"Read a book? You?"

"I do read."

"Action books, playboy, bridal guides, but biographies?"

"I just read John Adams."  
"Oh really?" She taunted.

"So this book is on your night stand?" he clarified changing the topic and moving past her. She turned to follow and noticed he was half way up the stairs. Dimly she hoped her room was somewhat clean, and she tried to stop her heart from beating a hole out of her chest. She was not going to lie and pretend she hadn't noticed that things had been changing, but she wasn't sure they were ready to change that much. She leaned against the doorway to find him happily ensconced on her bed with her book open in front of him. Although she noticed that his eyes were most defiantly not reading the pages, they were darting around her room, lingering on the dress lying haphazardly on the floor where she'd tossed it when she didn't like the way it looked this morning. They stopped over the shoes lying in the entrance to her closet, the sweatshirt dumped on the other side of the bed. 

His eyes traced all the things in her room that revealed her, but as he came back to the sweatshirt sitting with in reach he found it had disappeared and she was standing there, the sweatshirt no doubt tossed behind her. _Pity, it didn't look like it belonged to her,_ which didn't bother him as much as it might have because he'd been very careful in his decision to bring her dinner and it was prompted by the end of a very discrete observation process in which he had assured himself that there was no one particularly special in the Director of NCIS life, or for that matter in Jennifer Shepard's private life. He tiled his head up from the book and met her green eyes. 

"Shakespeare?" He questioned holding the book up.

"It happens to be good Jethro, classic literature."

"Uh huh," he mumbled in a way that plainly said he thought it was ridiculous. He had never developed a fondness for Shakespeare, although he had read almost all of the Bard's work. He looked over the words again, _why couldn't he have written in English?_

"It's an acquired taste Jethro," she teased, knowing he couldn't stand it._Yea, like you_, he thought and heard her laughter. He hoped to God his thoughts had not been that obvious. "It also helps if you read the book right side up." 

"How do you know which way is up?" She rolled her eyes.

"You planning on going home before midnight?" She questioned.

"I don't know, your bed is fluffy."

"If you tried sleeping in a bed instead of on wood under a boat, or an old couch you would find that most beds are comfortable," she replied exasperated. He closed his eyes and pretended to sleep. "But naturally that would be against some Gibbs' rule, well since you're asleep, I'll just change and sleep in the guest room and start a new book." She walked far enough away to make him think she'd gone to her dresser and he popped his eyes open trying to glance over his shoulder without making it look like he was awake. She laughed, he realized in the minute or so she laughed before she caught her breath, he liked that sound and didn't hear it enough. 

"Why read a book when you know how it will end?" She couldn't wipe her pleased smirk off her face but turned to gather her nightclothes while answering.

"It's not always about the ending, its how the characters get there," she replied. 

"But you know he's gets killed, kinda ruins it don't you think?" She moved toward the bathroom closing the door. He didn't hear the lock. 

"No, not for me," she called through the door. "But I could understand how it would bother you." She reappeared in a tank top and lightweight pants. "Would you rather read a book you didn't know how it ends?"

"Well yea," he agreed. 

"It may end badly," she pointed out.

"So then you pick a book you know does not end badly and I will read it." 

"Oh really?" She questioned not willing to pass over that offer. "And what if I think it does not end badly, but you think it does?"

"Well then we'll just have to reexamine your idea of ending well." She nodded at that and went to the smaller bookshelf, the one that contained all her favorite books within the easy reach. "No Shakespeare." 

"No Shakespeare," she agreed grabbing what was possibly one of her favorite books of all times and handed it too him reclaiming her book off the bed. He glanced at the cover.

"_Pride and Prejudice_, Jane Austen," he read. "You're kidding?"

"It doesn't beginning happily but it ends that way," she assured. "Or have your already read?"

"No, I read _Crime and Punishment_ instead," he said. "For a reason." She glared at him and instead of getting into an argument he decided he should at least know what he was talking about. "It is a universally acknowledged truth, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife." She cringed as he read the first lines.

"Stop," she ordered. "You're butchering it."

"Butchering it? It's a book."

"It's a classic," she defended. "And it has to be read as such, you can't just read it like a case report, Jethro, it has feeling and tone and…"

"I get it," he assured. "But if you're so afraid I'll butcher it then you read it." She registered the words he had teasingly said but they felt different to her. Reminded her of another time, another bed, another country, he had noticed her pensive appearance. "Jen I was just…"

"I know," she sighed. "You probably won't even like the book, it doesn't end exactly. There's still issues the characters never reconcile and other stuff," she drifted off.

"Stories don't always end Jenny, sometimes an ending is just another beginning," he said softly shifting closer to her. 

"Are we at an ending or a new beginning?" She asked turning to him. He took his good hand and stroked her cheek softly. He'd been wondering the same thing lately, but was glad she had asked, because it meant he got to give the answer. 

"Both." He leaned in and kissed her softly waiting for any indication that that was the right answer. She kissed him back her arms wrapping around his neck. At that he held her tighter, pulling her closer, deepening the kiss. She broke the kiss, her lips trailing off to his cheek and along his jaw line before she tucked her head into the crook of his neck.

"Ducky said to take it easy," she reminded her breathing heavy.

"I was," he protested, but he noticed her glance and knew that as much as they may both want it, she was not going to explain to Ducky how he managed to pull out his stitches, _again,_ he thought amused. She whacked his arm lightly, having no doubt what his thoughts contained. "Terrible waste of a bed," he sighed. She laughed.

"Say that again and I won't share it," she warned laughing. "I can get your sea bag if you want?" 

"Didn't take the car, Ziva dropped me." She nodded turning slightly so he could take off his jeans and shirt. He tugged her arm lightly so she lay down beside him when he was finished. She closed her eyes briefly savoring the feeling of being beside him again. "So whatever shall we do?"

"You could finish your book," she suggested grabbing hers. 

"You said I was butchering it," he reminded. "Why don't you read it?"

"I have, hundreds of times."

"Aloud." She looked over at him and shrugged her shoulders grabbing her glasses and accepting the book he handed to her. She propped herself up and he surprisingly snuggled closer to her. He had done that in the past, it touched her deeply. He was never one to ever not hold her, sometimes it was possessive, sometimes lovingly, sometimes in comfort, sometimes in fear, every time they shared a bed he would hold her close and alternatively she would hold him some nights. Those were the nights when nightmares came, nightmares she hadn't always understood, or cases that got to him. He would sleep in her embrace and she liked it, loved it actually. She opened the book after her moment of reminiscing and began to read, unbeknownst to them starting a new tradition for their new future. 

"It is a universally acknowledged truth, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife…"

END

* * *

**Author's Note 2: Julius Caesar was a military genius who built up most of the Roman Empire. He became an emergency Dictator when the Senate gave him that power so he could return peace to Rome. However on the day he was to be declared Emperor for Life he received a warning from a seer, "Beware the Ides of March." Caesar was not normally a superstitious man but there were to many coincidences. He tried to not go to a meeting with the Senate but was encouraged to go by an advisor. Men he believed to be his allies including one of his closest friends Brutus stabbed him 23 times in the middle of the Roman Senate. It is much debated about whether the Senate's actions actually brought about the fall of Rome, as they're to stay in a Republic failed as men rallied together after Caesar's assassination. It is also unclear whether or not Caesar had any idea of the plot, but it is possible. History Lesson complete, you're all dismissed to more fluff.**

**Ending Disclaimer: I do not own Pride and Prejduice or Crime and Punishment. ****  
**


	3. Of Dreams and Curses

**Title: Of Dreams and Curses Title: Of Dreams and Curses**

**Rating: K-Plus**

**Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of its characters, **_**1984 **_**written by George Orwell.**

**Spoilers: …Oh I want to spoil, but I won't. Just the previous history lesson**

**Summary: **

**Author's Note: Hello all, welcome to your April History Lesson, once again the history lesson will be posted at the end, but if you guess before the end or rather before its revealed, Kudos to you. Admittedly, this is a side obsession of mine so hence you're getting a lesson. PS ROTC stands for Reserve Officer's Training Corp, it's a college Military program.**

* * *

"It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen," she read aloud softly.

"A military book," he decided. She rolled her eyes affectionately having gotten quite used to his commentary as she read aloud to him. "Finally something good."

"It's not a military book, Jethro," she sighed. "It's a commentary."

"Oh a commentary," he remarked trying to impersonate a scholar. He traced his hand up her leg where it was lying on the bed. She swatted his hand away.

"Yes a commentary, a very good one."

"Read it, freshman year, college." He tried the gentle caress again. "Jenny…" She continued to read the book a little while longer till she could no longer deny it.

"Jethro…" her tone was a warning. She closed the book, a sign he took as a victory. "I get to pick the next book."

"You picked this one," he protested, happy to have her undivided attention. She laughed softly a sound he heard much more often, a sound he seemed to get out of her much more often. Their new relationship was still very new, barely a month old, but they had the advantage of hindsight, and while there were still fights they were easily remedied. They had finally come up with other activities besides their favorite, and one of them was reading. Leroy Jethro Gibbs avoided reading books on a general principle, mainly because he hadn't found time, but Jennifer Shepard loved books, she just never got the chance to read much more than case reports, till now. Now they read together, usually she read aloud to him, he liked her voice, loved it actually. Sometimes they sanded his newest boat, or she read while he sanded. It was very domesticated, which as so far from both their normal personas that they relished it.

"You never pick Jethro," she reminded, putting the book on the nightstand, shifting down to lay beside him. He pulled her into his side, leaning over to kiss her when the shrill ring of his cell phone broke the mood.

"I am going to break that damn thing."

"Rule number three Jethro," she soothed, leaning over and grabbing his cell. "It's McGee."

"McGee!"

"Boss we have a bit of a problem."

"McGee, its twelve-thirty in the morning this better be good."  
"Boss, you need to come down here, we've got a mummy."

"Get Ducky."

"And maybe you could call the Director."

"Why?"

"Because Ziva is refusing but claims we need her help…" McGee was cut off.

"Gibbs, it's a bit of a feely subject…"  
"Touchy, Ziva!" Tony corrected in the background.

"Whatever!" She snapped. "Gibbs, you really need to come down. The press will be…" Gibbs hung up the phone and tossed it turning back to his companion.

"Well I heard my title, who'd McGee hack into this time?"

"They have a mummy, Ziva says it's a touchy subject and that the press will be there soon," he explained disinterested.

"Uh huh, and what did they want me for?"  
"Smooth over our relationship with the press."  
"Because they just love your brand of charm, alright," she sighed wondering if it was possible to wear jeans and sneakers to work instead of a suit and heels. She moved to get out of bed but he held her back. "Jethro?"

"We don't have to go."

"Out of bed Jethro," she sighed. "Now."

"Spoil sport," he huffed before swinging his legs over the other side a getting up. She grabbed her clothes from her side of the closet. They had basically begun to share her closet, just as they shared his closet in her house. It was just easier than trying to leave clothes in the office or to pack a bag. She slid into her jeans and a sweater, knowing it was still chilly out. He pulled on a pair of jeans as well and a pullover. She went to grab her car keys but stopped as he took them.

"I have to get to work to."

"I'll drive."

"Jethro…" she trailed off, their relationship was a still a secret, and she wanted it to stay that way.

"It'll be fine, they know I wouldn't let you go anywhere without your detail anyway, c'mon."

"We can stop for coffee."

"Okay."

"And linger…if we left and just went straight they would know." He said nothing but led her out to the car. They did get coffee and Jenny told him to get something for his team, that they were probably hungry. When they strolled into the squad room a half hour later, the team looked up and Ziva glared at Tony to make sure he kept his mouth shut.

"Now what was so damn important?" Gibbs inquired taking a sip of the coffee as he dumped the bag with donuts onto Tony's desk.

"Well Boss, they found a mummy down at the base and…"

"Gear up."

"Actually Boss, they delivered it here," McGee informed.

"You told them to compromise a crime scene?" Jenny questioned.

"No Director," Ziva assured. "It was how we found out about it."

"Get down to the base and interview them, go collect evidence." The team stood watching him. "Fetch!" The team scrambled toward the elevator but Gibbs caught McGee.

"McGee, you stay, where is this mummy?"

"Autopsy Boss, but…" Gibbs headed off. Jenny followed and McGee quickly caught up. "Boss it doesn't…" But Gibbs gave the silent sign and McGee sighed. _I did try to warn them. _They entered autopsy to find Abby and Ducky, Abby protesting Ducky's exhumation.

"Ducky you shouldn't disturb it!"

"My dear, we have to make sure this is in fact a mummy and not a murder cover up."

"It's cursed Ducky!"

"Abby that is pure superstition"

"Oh yea what about Howard Carter?" She shot back.

"Who's Carter?" Gibbs interrupted ending the fight.

"He found King Tut Boss, died afterwards, most people thought it was because of the curse…" McGee began.

"But it turned out to be some sort of parasite," Ducky said.

"Get to it Ducky," Gibbs ordered. "Abby…"

"Stop Ducky," Jenny countermanded. Gibbs looked over at her surprised. She went a little closer looking over the hieroglyphics. "Abby, have you translated this?"

"Yes Director, 'Misfortune befalls those who disturb,' that sounds like a curse to me."

"Did you get a name?"

"Not a name exactly… these symbols over here," Abby pointed to the top of the sarcophagus. "Translate to Princess and Amen-Ra, it might be her title."

"McGee you weren't' kidding, we do have a big problem," Jenny remarked taking a large step away from it. "Jethro find answers, quickly and get rid of this thing." Gibbs looked at her mutinously and she glared back.

"Oh…" Abby muttered.

"Abbs?"

"Uh Gibbs, I think the Director is right. Wasn't The Princess of Amen-Ra the one…" Abby let her question hang as she turned to Jenny.

"Yes, which begs the question, how did it get to DC?" Jenny remarked.

"You care to tell me about this?" Gibbs demanded to both women.

"Well the story goes something along the lines of the mummy was found by some English explorers and it was sent back to Europe after misfortune fell the discovers and then…"

"Oh the story," Ziva commented entering autopsy.

"I thought I told you to fetch."

"We tried Boss, cars won't start."

"All of the cars?" Gibbs questioned.

"Yes, boss, we even tried to jump them, they're dead, it's the weirdest thing."

"It's the curse," Ziva stated. "So have you finished the story?"

"Just started actually," Jenny replied. She gestured for Abby to continue.

"So anyway, the mummy went to the British museum but all sorts of bad things kept happening and they really just wanted to get rid of it so they sold it to a wealthy American, who didn't believe in curses."

"This sounds like a bad horror movie," Tony said.

"It gets worse," Ziva continued glancing at Abby who nodded. "The American had the mummy stored in the hold of the ship he was traveling back to America on. The ship was on its maiden voyage."

"So its gets to America and what?" McGee questioned appearing thoroughly entranced with the lore.

"The ship never reached New York," Ziva responded.

"What happened to it?" Tony asked.

"The ship it was placed on was called the Ship of Dreams," Jenny answered. "And it was."

"Really?" Tony said making sure his thoughts weren't that far off.

"It really was."

"Ship got a name?" Gibbs cut in.

"Yes Boss."

"When it was salvaged, did they find the mummy?"

"Uh Boss…it can't exactly be salvaged," McGee informed having figured out the answer.

"Do they not know where the ship was?"  
"They know it's just…in deep water."

"How deep?"  
"Two and half miles, Gibbs," Abby piped up. "Really its next to impossible, there's one submarine that can go down that far, Alvin, but even then it can't take up much."

"What's the name of the damn ship?" Gibbs thundered.

"The _R.M.S. Titanic_, Boss," Tony responded. Gibbs looked over at Jenny who nodded.

"And you think this mummy cursed the ship?" Abby and Ziva nodded. "Ha, the ship was called 'unsinkable' that alone is a curse."  
"Jethro you don't have to believe us, but the fact still remains that this mummy should be two and half miles under the ocean, not sitting in NCIS Autopsy!" He said nothing but walked out of autopsy, Jenny clenched her fists, _stubborn man!_ "McGee, Abby pull a cargo manifest for Titanic, Ducky see if you can't do an autopsy without doing one. Use the x-ray machine or something, Ziva take Gibbs' car, or have my driver take you and Tony wherever this thing came from."

"Uh Director…"

"Tony, Gibbs maybe your Boss, but I have the power to fire you, move it!" She walked out noticing the elevator was sitting on the autopsy floor. _So not going to get stuck in it with him, _she decided to take the stairs. As she turned to the stairwell she felt a hand grab her wrist and immediately turned around to defend herself, only to have Gibbs stop her in place.

"Your reaction time is pretty good," he idly mentioned holding both her wrists in one hand.

"Jethro, I have work to do."

"You have an investigation to run."

"Oh no, that's you. It's your team."

"Who's team?" He clarified using a smug grin she hated.

"Your team Jethro," she repeated. He nodded seemingly satisfied with the answer, but not to the point where he let her go. She struggled just a little bit more but only half heartedly. She was disappointed their early actions had been interrupted, but she was fully aware that the middle of the hall at NCIS was not the place to pick it up. "Jethro I really have to do work."

"So what exactly do I need to know about Titanic?" She looked at him surprised.

"Jethro do you live in your basement?" She inquired.

"Nooo," he drawled, placing a soft kiss on her wrist. "As I'm sure you're well aware."

"Jethro…"

"So what about this ship?"

"The _R.M.S. Titanic_ sank on April 15, 1912 at about 2:22am after striking an iceberg early that evening. They think she stayed afloat for about two hours before she finally slipped under around then. They were the first ship to try the SOS signal and a few ships answered and made for them, but were too far away. There were rumors of a third ship nearby that would have been able to save almost everyone, but it was never proven without a doubt, and most believed they were doing illegal sealing or something else." She looked over to make sure he was listening and he had the smug look of satisfaction she knew so well. "What?"

"You said she." She raised an eyebrow. "You called the boat a she." She rolled her eyes; maybe she was spending too much time around him.

"Anyway, they tried to find it but it wasn't until 1985 that they did discover it, a team led by Doctor Robert Ballard, using Alvin, the deep sea sub Abby was telling you about.

"Great, so how would a mummy that was supposed to be put on a ship that sank, end up in DC?"

"That's your job to figure out, Jethro. I have to go play nice with the Sister Agencies."

"Okay," he replied brushing a quick kiss to her cheek, before stepping away. He let her go up the stairs first watching her every step entranced with the movement of her body. He knew he had to push those thoughts away, at least till later. She continued up to her office while he sat down at his desk and began to work.

* * *

He had gone out to get a coffee refill and come back to find Ziva and Tony bickering which was nothing unusual, but McGee arguing with them, that was. He listened for a bit making sure he knew who deserved the head slaps and who didn't, before realizing that it was bickering over the case. He came up behind them, wacked DiNozzo on the back of the head and watched the other two move back to their desks.

"What do we have?"

"Well Boss, I checked the cargo list for Titanic, there was no mummy listed but there were several first class passengers that had things in the hold that were not specified by what was in it, just if it was a crate or not," McGee explained.

"We have slightly more luck; the people on the base are freaked out, nothing ratty."

"Fishy," Tony corrected his partner. "She means fishy, Boss. No one is missing, everyone who was supposed to be at work showed up, ran background checks there all clear."

"Unfortunately everything is not clear," Ducky sighed coming up into the squad room. "At the Director's request I performed x-rays on our mummy. It is most defiantly not a mummy, but rather a treasure chest."

"Treasure Duck?" Gibbs questioned.

"There's so much metal in there, I'll have no choice but to open it, but there's no evidence of any organic matter."

"Open it, send the sample to Abby." Ducky nodded but paused in his retreat back to his domain.

"Jethro, something bothering me about all this…"

"Today Duck."

"Well, if this is the actual sarcophagus, where's the mummy?"

"A valid question Doctor Mallard," Jenny answered coming down up to the team. "What news?"

"Treasure in the sarcophagus, no mummy, no record of a mummy on the _Titanic_, and no leads," Gibbs summed up.

"Your favorite kind of case Jethro," she patronized.

"Director, are we sure it's real?"

"Ziva?"

"If the sarcophagus is not really, it is a very good fake," Ziva informed.

"Well it's not a fake," Abby announced coming around the corner. "I tested the paint chips, the date back to approximately 375BC."

"That would be authentic," Ziva agreed.

"Hey in _The Mummy_ they hid stuff in sarcophaguses!" Tony interjected. "Maybe it's a common practice."

"DiNozzo!"

"Sorry Boss."

"Actually Boss, Tony's on to something."

"I am, McGeek, McGoogle."

"According to the literature some sarcophagi were used as carrier chests to contain organs and treasures of the pharaohs."

"Great well find where this one came from and get it out of here," Gibbs ordered.

"I can help with that," Jenny said. Gibbs looked over at her. "Well you were all chasing suspects, some ROTC sailors came by to confess."

"When exactly were you planning to tell me?"

"Right now, they're sitting in interrogation with their lawyers. Apparently as some punishment they were to unload one of the supply ships and this was cargo for the museums, they wanted to play some jokes on some friends. Harmless stuff you know."

"Harmless?" Gibbs echoed. He marched toward interrogation the team exchanging glances before hurrying to follow. They piled into the viewing room watching Gibbs barge into the interrogation room. The two ROTC students were on their feet immediately starring straight ahead. Jenny had to withhold her laughter. Gibbs in Marine mode was a sight in and of itself but watching as his own team straightened a little more was just that much better. "Name?"

"Cadet Smith, SIR!"

"Cadet Youngs SIR!" The two answered simultaneously.

"Do you know what you've done CADETS?" He growled.

"SIR YES SIR!"

"Do you understand it is a federal offense to steal artifacts?"

"We didn't steal them."

"What was that Cadet?" Gibbs barked.

"Nothing Sir!" The other Cadet answered quickly. Gibbs stared at the two for a second.

"Face front Cadets!" The two turned quickly, Gibbs knocked on the glass window. Jenny left and moved out and into interrogation.

"Agent Gibbs?"

"These two have volunteered to help return the sarcophagus get to its rightful owner. They will also be delivering reports to their CO's about their misconduct and why they will never waste NCIS's time again."

"Very well," Jenny agreed. "Agent DiNozzo, Officer David, escort the young Cadets to autopsy." Tony and Ziva waited in the hallway as the two Cadets marched out and followed them. Jenny waited in the hall as Gibbs stepped up to her.

"So guess we'll never know about that mummy and the _Titanic _now will we?"

"Just one of her many secrets," Jenny replied. McGee and Abby stepped forward.

"Actually Director, its highly unlikely that the mummy was even on board. It's thought to be just a myth."

"McGee!" Abby scolded.

"What?" Abby dragged him away scolding him about ruining the mysterious lure of the great ship. Jenny laughed softly as Abby's tone was heard from around the corner.

"Case closed," Gibbs said.

"So it is."

"So my team…"

"Can have the day off," she finished. She started to walk down the hall but he caught her arm gently.

"And you?" She sighed, she would like nothing more than to go home and pick up where they'd left up but she knew she couldn't. _Not for another hour at least, and then…hm…_she glanced at him briefly to find him with guarded hope.

"I have to work for a little while longer and then I can go home."

"Well I'll go find some paperwork and…"

"Actually Jethro, I have an idea for you," she tried an idea forming in her mind. She beckoned him closer, he stepped far into her personal space, her hands falling to his hips. "Why don't you go back to my house, and watch a movie," she suggested.

"There a movie in mind?"

"Hm…well you could watch _Titanic_, grant it not the best movie ever, or the most accurate, but it should keep you occupied till I get done."

"Or I could read a book."

"Watch the movie, please?" She smiled innocently at him.

"Okay, but if you tell DiNozzo."  
"The very idea Jethro," she teased. "Now go, so I can go do work." He brushed his hand against hers in place of a kiss. She nodded and watched him leave, smiling. _Do work, go home, sounds good, _she moved back to her office and focused on her work with a vigor.

* * *

Gibbs had done what she suggested, throwing the movie in the DVD player and watching it on the TV. He had thought it would be a chick flick but there was something about the darkness fading to the bow of the greatest ship that had once sailed the seas. Sure the beginning was a bit corny and he smelled a love story, but he had decided Jenny had a purpose in this. He listened to the old lady begin her story, flipping through the book on _Titanic_ that he'd found on the bookshelf.

_"It was called the ship of dreams, and it was, it really was."_

He listened and watched as the scene transformed. He watched the movie as the blonde hero entered and he watched the movie develop. He heard the front door open about an hour in and hit pause going to meet her. She came in looking haggard, but it faded as she spotted him.

"Hi," he said greeting her with a gentle kiss to her cheek.

"Hi, SecNav wanted me to personally assure the Curator of the Museum so they wouldn't hate the NAVY."

"I'm sure you won them all over."

"One can hope," Jenny sighed leaning into him temporarily. "Right so I'm going upstairs, why don't you finish the movie?"  
"Or I could come with you," he bargained.

"Jethro, I'll call you up all right, now stay," she ordered.

"Fine, fine. Made dinner," he called after her.

"You're not going to want dinner," she muttered as she walked up the stairs. She rummaged through her jewelry box finding the pendant he had bought her many years ago in France. She hadn't worn it since, but she had never been able to get rid of it either. She placed it around her neck carefully and got rid of the jeans and other clothes. She picked up her cell phone and hit speed dial one.

"Gibbs?"

"You planning on coming up here anytime soon?" She inquired.

"You told me to watch the movie."  
"Changed my mind," she said sweetly. She heard him move. "And Jethro shut off your phone."

"Breaking Rule 3?"

"We're already breaking more than that," she reminded. "Mine's going off to." She hung up and turned off her phone. She threw it in the nightstand drawer and lay back on the bed. She smirked as she heard the doorknob turn. She heard his breath catch and withheld the smirk. _Mission accomplished. _

"Jen…" his voice was deep and almost questioning, but she could feel his eyes tracing over her form.

"You going to stand there?" She questioned. She kept her eyes focused on his as he walked rather quickly to the bed and kneeled on the bed watching her. "Jethro…" He gulped.

"Jenny." She reached up placing her arms around his neck pulling him down to her.

"Jethro…" she placed a gently kiss to his lips. "Love me in this and only this," she whispered in his ear. He traced the necklace lying at her throat.

"This and only this?"

"This and only this.

**END**

* * *

**History Lesson For April:**

_On April 10, 1912, the RMS Titanic set sail on its maiden voyage. At the time it was the largest ship in the world and the pride of the White Star Ocean Liner Company. The ship was considered to be unsinkable having had been designed with special rivets that should protect the holds from being flooded, along with the added feature that if any three or four holds filled, the ship would not sink. It was to be the event of a lifetime and turned into one of the world's largest seagoing disasters. On April 14__th__ Titanic found herself among icebergs, sometime around midnight the ship struck an iceberg but there was no immediate fear, based on the fact that the ship was to be unsinkable. Captain Smith, ordered the crew to wake the passengers and get them in the boats and for the communications to call for help. Smith was aware of the one major flaw; the Titanic did not have enough lifeboats for all its passengers. The famous women and children first was enforced although some wealthy men bribed their way onto the lifeboats. Third class passengers were gated and trapped and most of them perished. The communications officers sent the very first SOS signal, a few ships answered including one of the sister ships the Olympic and the Carpathia another ocean liner. Both ships were to far away to save all the lives onboard though there was rumor of a third ship close enough that they would have been able to hear and see the Titanic in distress, if said ship was there, she never responded. On April 15__th__ at about 2:22am the Titanic slipped into the Atlantic and sank separating into two parts. _

_Although her final position was recorded it was not until September 1__st__, 1985, when a crew lead by Dr. Robert Ballard discovered her final resting spot. Attempts to raise her have been unsuccessful and the final documents are trying to be taken as the Titanic is slowly but surely being destroyed under the pressure and bacteria in the water. The Titanic was more than just the ship of dreams; it was a reminder, a lesson, and now a memorial. _

_Among those lost were Isidor Straus and his wife Ida, the founders of Macy's, Mrs. Straus was given the opportunity to get on the lifeboat but when informed her husband could not join her she was heard to say that she had spent fifty years married to this man, she wasn't going to die without him. They returned to their room and went down with the ship. Also going down with the ship was Captain Smith, many say it was the guilt that he felt, but he was an honorable man. Also the band of Titanic went down, playing till the very last possible minute. _

_The myth of the story comes from the myth of Princess of Amen-Ra, a mummy found in Eqypt at the begining of the 20th century. She was as was mentioned cursed and passed from hand to hand, with the last recorded pass being to an American who placed it onboard a White Star Ocean Liner sailing on its maiden voyage on April 10th, 1912. The truth is of course debated but its just many of the numerous mysteries about the great ship. _

_I hope you all enjoyed the April History Lesson, stay tuned for May, which I can assure you, you will lose your head over. _


	4. Off With Her Head

**Title: Off With Her Head**

**Rating: T **

**Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS, The Tudors. **_**Catch-22 was written by Joseph Heller.**_

**Spoilers: None. **

**Summary: When a case is turned over by the FBI, Gibbs and the team end up with more then they bargain for and when Director Shepard tries to assist, heads really start to roll. **

_Author's Note: So I've been kinda in a funk since the finale, but here is your May History Lesson, Keep in mind I am still on my hiatus. As always your history lesson will be at the end._

* * *

It was a clear bright day when the call came in. Leroy Jethro Gibbs had no sooner entered NCIS headquarters than he was summoned to the Director's office. He thought it strange since he had seen Director Shepard earlier that morning. His faint smile at the memory faded as he entered the room and found Agent Tobias Fornell waiting on the other side of the desk.

"Director, Tobias," he greeted inclining his head toward the redhead woman. "FBI having issues?"

"Not today Jethro," Tobias responded.

"The FBI is turning a crime scene over to us," Jenny explained. "I want your team on it."

"Case?"

"Complicated," Fornell began. "We have the decomposing body of a female, no ID."

"Abby can use…"

"Let me rephrase that, no way to ID the victim. Her head is missing and her hands were soaked in acid before burial."

"And why is this NCIS related?" Gibbs questioned glancing toward Jenny who glared.

"Jethro the FBI is swamped right now we're doing them a favor," She informed making it very clear she would call it in.

"Turn the evidence over…"

"Already done," Fornell announced. "Thank you for your help Director." He left closing the door behind him, unable to keep the faint smirk off his face. _Bout damn time they got back together._

"Since when do we do favors for the FBI?" Gibbs inquired after the door closed.

"Since I ran out of they owe me's" she replied grinning. "Besides it will give Abby something new to do." He said nothing but left calling for his team as he came down the stairs.

The scene was in the woods near a river, clearly marked with yellow FBI tape. The FBI agents watching over the scene quickly packed up and left Tony waving as they did. He and Ziva began to process the scene along with McGee who snapped photos. Gibbs looked over the body with Ducky.

"Well aside from the obvious lack of head, this is a rather pristine, adult female."

"How old Duck?"

"Hard to say for sure, but most likely between thirty and fifty years old. No obvious fracture so without the skull I would say cause of death was decapitation."

"An unusual way, Doctor," Jimmy Palmer added.

"Well certainly not the fastest way my dear boy."

"Time of death?"

"Oh Jethro I couldn't say for sure, based on the decomposition I would guess six to nine months but I'll know more when I get her back."

"Could the acid on her hands have killed her?"

"I won't know for sure till Abby runs it, but I doubt it. It would have been excruciatingly painful, but she could've survived." Ducky and Palmer began to move the body and Gibbs moved on looking around the scene.

"Boss!" Tony shouted.

"What DiNozzo?"

"We've got a problem." Tony pointed to where he'd been shifting through the dirt, an elegant white humors bone was clearly visible peaking out.

"Gibbs!" Ziva called from behind the two men. They turned to face her. "Another."

"Ducky you might want to get a few more body bags." Gibbs and the other began to process, after three hours and a million bug bites they'd uncovered five other skeletons, each missing a skull.

"This is like some horror movie," Tony commented as they reentered the squad room. Gibbs whacked the back of his head.

"We have any idea who these women area?" he demanded.

"Everything has been sent to Abby," Ziva informed.

"And…"

"And I'll go and help her Boss," McGee responded wanting to get out of the Gibbs's path.

"And we'll see about looking for security tapes and go talk to the park departments," Tony answered as he and Ziva left again.

"Director," Ziva greeted as the woman passed them. She glanced back in time to see Gibbs smile at his old partner.

"Gibbs."

"Director?"

"Crime scene take a while?"

"Found more than we signed up for." She arched her eyebrow and he could see the questions in her eyes. "Found five more skeletons, females thirty to fifty, missing skulls, marks at the top of the back bone."

"Any ID?"

"Ducky and Abby are working on it."

"Any ideas?" She pressed, loving how she would explain this one to her SecNav.

"I will keep you informed Director," he said changing his tone. She glared, slightly annoyed with his tone. She was allowed to ask, it was her agency after all! He watched as she turned on her heel heading for her office. He was still slightly irritated with her doing the FBI favors, even if they came in handy. He wasn't quite sure what he'd done to deserve the glare but he figured he'd deal with it later. He decided first priority was to check in with Ducky and bring Abby a Caff-Pow. As he walked into autopsy he noticed Jimmy putting away one victim while Ducky turned to the next.

"Jethro don't lurk," Ducky chided.

"Got anything?"

"Well these women were all roughly the same age, killed over a period of three years. The oldest one had the most damage consistent with her being the first, the killer got consistently cleaner, perhaps a doctor or a surgeon."

"Great," Gibbs muttered.

"There is something else," Ducky hesitated. Gibbs gestured for him to continue. "Some of these women have had children."

"Had?"

"None we're pregnant at the time, at least as far as I can tell, but the scaring and width of the pubic bone suggest that at least two of the five had natural birth. It is possible they were all pregnant at least once, but I can't be sure." Gibbs gritted his teeth. He hated cases like these and he promised himself he would get the bastard responsible and not let his emotions get to him till he was alone.

"Call me when you know more," he said leaving autopsy and heading for the lab.

"Gibbs!" Abby exclaimed as she bounced in front of him. He placed his hands on her shoulders holding her still.

"Got something?"

"Got a Caff-Pow?"

"Not this time, results now!" McGee stepped into view hearing the Boss.

"We worked on returning the hands to their original shape and tried to get prints. We're running them now."

"I found a partial print on the tape end of the rope that Tony found and am running that through all the databases so far nothing. I also extracted DNA from the bones and I'm trying to get a profile, but I'm not sure I'll get anything."

"So nothing?"

"Would I let you down like that?" Abby questioned. "I processed the clothing from the victims and found fibers from an oriental rug, a very expensive rug."

"How expensive?"

"There's only two stores in all of DC that sell them," Gibbs leaned in and kissed her cheek.

"Good work Abbs." Gibbs left quickly stepping into the elevator just as Ziva and Tony stepped off.

"Boss we've got something interesting for you to see," Tony said.

"What?"

"Got video footage sent over, some strange stuff."

"Like?"

"Well Gibbs, I have a new level of disgust for sex in America," Ziva commented fast forward to the video to some teens experimenting with other animals.

"That's disturbing," Tony agreed.

"And not relevant to the case, did you find any one carrying expensive rugs into the woods?"

"Funny you should mention that," Tony took control of the remote fast forwarding to a couple walking into the woods; a giant rug attached the guy's back. "They don't come out this way, and there are no video cameras near the other exit but…seven hours later this car is missing."

"Enough time to kill someone, even for the less experienced," Ziva remarked. Gibbs phone rang and he picked it up.

"Yea Gibbs."

"Boss, I have something you're going to want to see."

"McGee and Abby have something," Gibbs announced hanging up the phone heading for the elevator, Tony and Ziva on his heels. Both almost ran into Gibbs as he stopped in front of the elevator as the doors opened to reveal Jenny. She stepped to the side to let them on, but didn't appear to be getting off. Ziva and Tony held their breaths and slid to the back wall hoping to stay out of the fray. "Someone need you?"

"Abby called me," she answered shortly.

"For what."  
"She told me to come see her, how should I know?" The doors thankfully opened again and Abby was waiting for them.

"Good you're here Director, we have a problem."

"A problem?" Gibbs and Jenny echoed together.

"There's one store that sells the rugs we need and the guy who owns has a sealed past."

"Sealed?"

"He's some foreign dude who got asylum here."

"That doesn't mean he has diplomatic immunity Abbs, unseal the records," Gibbs ordered.

"McGee's hacking into the database to do that right now, but we thought you might want the address to the store."

"Tony, Ziva."

"Gone Boss."

"Agent Gibbs," Jenny called to him as he headed for the stairs with his agents.

"Director?"

"Try not to upset anyone, he may not have diplomatic immunity but he has still been granted asylum and should be treated with respect." He turned on his heels and walked up the stairs.

"Anything else you can tell me Abby?"

"Um…well there's this dye that basically stains who ever handles the rugs before the sprayed to leave the store. The dye is still present in the fibers which means whoever took them has access to the store and the supply.

"Can you test for it?"

"Yes, with almost 98 accuracy, which is better than GSR testing."

"Good work Abby." Jenny left the lab heading back up to MTAC to await Gibbs' return and hopefully there wouldn't be any further complications to her day.

* * *

Gibbs, Tony and Ziva got out of the car at the shop and took a good look around. It was a classy store, probably the only very wealthy shopped there and so Gibbs was fully expecting to hate the people inside. Tony had made at least ten movie references on the ride over and Ziva was about a whisper short of killing him. They entered the store and there was a faint beep and a good looking man about forty five appeared.

"Can I help you?"

"NCIS," Gibbs greeted showing his badge. "We need to speak to the owner."

"I am the owner, Stephan, how may I help the US Government, you are with the government, yes?"

"The NAVY actually, we're investigating a homicide and we have some evidence that the bodies were wrapped in a rug from your store."

"Surely that is impossible!" Stephan protested.

"Evidence doesn't lie," Tony piped up not liking this guy a bit; especially not liking the look he was giving Ziva.

"I can safely vouch for all of my employees they would never do something like this."

"And your patrons?" Ziva inquired.

"Well obviously I don't know what happens to the rugs after they are purchased, but I have a very select clientele. I can't imagine…"

"Yea well it's usually people with money, think they own the world," Tony sighed irritated with the guy.

"DiNozzo, kindly go examine the rugs," Gibbs commanded. Tony withheld comment but moved toward the rugs when the beep of his phone stopped him. He looked at it and noticed a text message from Abby. _Dye on hands can test for only employee would have._

"Uh Boss, you might want to look at this one," DiNozzo called finding a rug with slightly fraying on the edges and using it as a decoy. Gibbs came over leaving Ziva with the guy.

"DiNozzo," Gibbs harshly whispered.

"Text message from Abby," Tony handed over the phone. Gibbs read carefully and glanced at the rug.

"Stephan, perhaps you could come back to our headquarters apparently the rug has surfaced and we were wondering if you could in fact confirm it came from here."

"Yes I suppose I could," Stephan agreed hesitantly. Ziva escorted him back to the car and they drove back. When they got back to the squad room Gibbs had Ziva and Tony escort Stephan to an interrogation room and wait with him, he had spotted Jenny on the catwalk and she had gestured for him to come up. He did so reluctantly.

"Director."

"Agent Gibbs did you bring in a suspect?"

"He owns the shop."  
"Did you at least tell him he's being investigated?"

"Gee and scare him off? Why didn't I think about that?"

"As a curtsey Jethro, so he doesn't call someone higher up than both of us!"

"Actually he might be calling someone higher up," Abby interrupted.

"Abbs."

"McGee's got something."

"Sometime today McGee," Gibbs snapped.

"Boss the owner has had five wives in six years, three children which were put up for adoption after their mothers divorced him."  
"Hm…beats even your record Jethro," Jenny commented sarcastically.

"So you look find these ex-wives?"  
"That's just it Boss, they're missing."  
"All of them?" Jenny questioned.

"Yea it's kinda creepy, three of them delivered baby girls, were divorced a month after the birth, child placed into state custody and then adopted when the mother's went missing a year after the divorce."

"McGee that's what we call a pattern," Gibbs said. "Well I think the person of interest just became a suspect." He headed down toward interrogation with Jenny and McGee on his heels. As he got there Tony and Ziva were waiting just outside the door.

"Boss, he is whining and…"

"DiNozzo observation, Ziva with him, McGee fill them in." He entered the interrogation room surprised when the door didn't slam shut and instead was gently closed by the one who followed him. He hid his shock well as Jenny leaned against the door. "Stephan, I don't think we've been properly introduced, Agent Gibbs of NCIS."

"And your lady friend?" Stephan inquired clearly more interested with her presence.

"Agent Shepard," he said and Jenny bit her tongue to keep any retort silent. She figured he had a reason for not giving out who she really was, but she would be sure to ask later.

"Pleased to me you Madam." Jenny nodded her greeting leaning against the back wall as Gibbs sat down across from Stephan. "So Agent Gibbs where is this rug I should examine."  
"Oh we'll get to that, first I need to ask you about your ex-wives."

"Hm…what about them."

"Hey man I understand it, I have a few myself. We just need to be clear that you're on time with all your alimony you know things like that, before we can take you as a credible witness, judges don't like ex-husbands for some reason."

"That is certainly true, your government informed me since the money was sent back to me, I have no obligation, they changed their addresses or something."

"Or something, you're ex-wives all happen to be on the missing persons list," Jenny piped up.

"I assure you I didn't know that, I severed all contact with them and their families after the fact."

"Smart move, wish I'd thought of that," Gibbs commented. "Any advice?"

"Don't get married."

"That's his motto," Jenny remarked idly. "We were more interested if you had any idea who may have wanted to harm your ex-wives."

"Is this about the homicide investigation?"

"Yes," Gibbs answered. "We have found the remains of a woman we believe to be your last ex-wife a Marta Skylar."

"Oh god, I…that is I mean I would never wish them…" the man stumbled.

"Not even thought about it?" Jenny pressed.

"If I had been a king perhaps, but alas I'm a merchant." Jenny's brow furrowed as she tried to consider that phrase for double meaning, something popped out at her, but she wasn't sure what. "Divorce was certainly difficult, but it had its payoffs."

"Hm…yea a new ex-wife to be," Jenny continued. Gibbs gave her a good glare.

"She's smart, never been married to a red head."

"Oh he could tell you all about that," Jenny poked as she left the room.

"I did not mean to imply…" Stephan faded off looking at Gibbs.

"Oh don't worry, she's not the marrying type, believe me every time I think about marrying another redhead I'm quickly reminded not to." He had hoped the comment had come out sarcastic and biting, but it was more or less true in that anytime he happened to see another red head the only one he could compare them to was Jenny. He also hoped she hadn't quite heard that comment.

* * *

Unfortunately for Gibbs not only had Jenny heard said comment but so had his team. His team was more or less loyal to him first and foremost, but they could recognize a good thing, and Jenny was a good thing for Gibbs. So Gibbs snarky comments put him in their black books simply on the principle that they pissed off Jenny. Ziva in particular was rather irritated but one look at Jenny told her it wasn't worth it to mention, Tony on the other end was hell bent on slapping Gibbs upside the head as his Boss did him. McGee thought it best to remain silent and Abby…Abby was just plain pissed that once again she would have to use her status as favorite to work things out between Mommy and Daddy instead of begging for new equipment.

"Director," McGee began hesitantly.

"Sometime today Timothy." He cringed at the way she said it, like a mother seriously displeased.

"Ducky said all of the women were decapitated with the same object and that it was cause of death far as he can tell."

"Off with her head, God sounds like some bad movie line," Ziva laughed.

"Actually the Queen of Hearts says it to Alice in Alice in Wonderland." All of the other people turned to look at Abby, including Tony. "What? I did have childhood you know, I watched Disney!"

"Yea but…" Tony fell silent at Abby's glare.

"Bet you don't know where the phrase came from!" She taunted. McGee sighed.

"When Queen Elizabeth ordered the execution of her cousin Mary Queen of Scotts," he relayed.

"WRONG!" Abby bounced. "Actually it comes from Elizabeth's father Henry Tudor who…"

"Hey! I know him he killed Anne Boleyn on the Tudors on HBO. Shame to, she was a knockout and really good in…" Tony was cut off as Ziva's elbow connected with his ribs.

"King Henry the eighth of England was married six times, first time he divorced Katherine of Argon, mother of Queen Mary, to marry Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth's mother. Anne didn't give him a son, so she was executed so he could marry her lady in waiting Jane Seymour who did give him a son but than died…he had a couple more wives after that and they were all executed too, 'cept the last one, I think she outlived him," Abby explained to the group.

"Well thank you for that Abby," Jenny replied.

"He was kind of like an ancient Gibbs."

"Yes well, I suppose we should be thankful Gibbs didn't execute his exes," Jenny remarked swallowing hard. She tapped on the glass and Gibbs glared towards it but got up. He came in to the observation room looking at them, eyes first glaring at Jenny knowing she was the one who tapped on the glass, the others would never dare.

"What?"

"Ducky says all of the women were decapitated and that was the cause of death," McGee rapidly repeated.

"Great doesn't tell us who did it."

"He thinks a guillotine was used," McGee tacked on.

"Yea we found one of those," Tony reminded.

"He did it," Ziva and Jenny said at the same time. Gibbs looked at the two suspiciously.

"You have evidence to back that up?"

"Ask him about Henry Tudor," Jenny suggested brushing past him to leave. Gibbs watched her go rather confused as to why all of a sudden she didn't want to be involved. _Women, still can't figure them out_, he thought but turned back to the interrogation room ignoring the glare from Ziva at Jenny's retreating form.

"Stephan you're in a bit of trouble here," Gibbs lamented.

"But I have done nothing wrong?"

"Well apparently my boss feels executing your ex-wife is a crime."

"She would not be the red head that was just in here?"

"A woman running a federal agency? There's a new one."

"Like a woman running a country," Stephan agreed.

"I could think of two women off the top of my head in all of world history."

"Could you?" Stephan inquired seemingly interested in the topic of conversation. Gibbs entertained it in hopes he could get some comparison to an ex-wife.

"Elizabeth of England…"  
"No, not a true Queen as history shows us, she failed to produce an heir, failed to do her womanly duty," Stephan argued and this struck Gibbs as odd, but pretended to accept it.

"And Cleopatra."

"Unfaithful," Stephan countered. "Though she did produce a son so I suppose she could be considered."

"Ah yes the gift of an heir," Gibbs commented bits of the puzzle suddenly falling together. "Do you have children?"  
"Three of my exes gave me girls, took them with them, I have no clue where they are."

"And the other two?"  
"Miscarried, Marta miscarried my only son; I was more than happy to divorce her."

"The quest for an heir is such a messy thin."

"It is not much to ask."

"No I suppose not, but why not try again?"

"The three who gave me girls wished to have only one child, the others obviously could not handle even one. It was a God sanctioned divorce."

"Thought God didn't like divorce."

"He came to terms with it, Henry Tudor for example, he defied the corrupt Church to divorce his first wife to get a woman who could give him a son, and a few wives later he finally got his wish."

"Yea but his son died young as I recall."

"Yes well, it's not perfect."

"True, though I daresay he had the right idea to get rid of his exes."

"Yes, yes he did."

"Too bad it's a crime, it would sure save alimony," Gibbs baited, having processed why this man was most likely guilty.

"So very true, I cannot imagine what you make for alimony, but my business alone is twenty million. Each ex got there own share of that, some demanding more than the others, especially those with their brats. It's obscene, they are the ones who failed in their duty, and I pay the consequences."

"You must be pretty pissed with them."

"I was, but I solved matters."

"Yea you're wives are missing, how convenient for you." Stephan leaned across the table.

"If you could prove it you would have done something about it," he taunted.

"What makes you think I can't?"

"Because there's no way to identify them."

"Again, what makes you think I can't?" The door opened at that moment and Tony walked in.

"Boss, we have positive ids on all of them," he informed.

"Excellent news, anything else?"

"Forensics found a dye; we can test for it if you have a suspect."

"Why don't you test our friend Stephan's hands right now?" Gibbs suggested. Tony nodded and came back a minute later with Abby.

"I'll have the results in about ten minutes," She said leaving again.

"So Stephan you have ten minutes to convince me your still innocent if that dye comes back positive." The man remained eerily silent for a minute.

"Tell me Agent Gibbs, haven't you ever wanted to stick it to them. Take back what was yours that they stole," Stephan said.

"What?"

"You're the integrity, your soul, the man you were before them," he listed. "Women been nothing but thieves, they steal pieces of you, thinking they can protect to you, offering you everything you want and then withholding it."

"Hardly seems like they can control it," Gibbs responded willing to accept that the words held more than a little truth, however twisted it might be.

"Someone should suffer for the pain I've been through," Stephan said. "They deserved it." Gibbs stood at this, leaning over the table.

"You should suffer for your own sins," Gibbs whispered before walking out. "DiNozzo! Arrest him!" Tony was quick to jump on that order and along with Ziva entered the interrogation room. McGee had joined Abby and they called to tell Gibbs it was a match, and he was glad of it, but at the same time he could tell the team was irritated with him. He went to inform Jenny of the close of the case but she was gone. Cynthia said she went home for the night, but Gibbs was more than a little surprised, it was only six in the evening. Still he left after leaving his report on her desk and drove to her house. He stopped by the library to grab a book, as it was his turn to pick their reading material. Though he wasn't sure they would even get to the reading at this point.

He entered the house surprised to find a single light on in the study. Five months ago that might have been the norm, but now since they started the relationship again, she usually had a light on in the kitchen or the living room. The fact that this was not the case suggested that Gibbs was in a bit more trouble than he'd anticipated. He entered her study to find her surprisingly not at her desk.

"Jenny?" He called cautiously; worried for a second that something was truly wrong. "Jen? Are you in here?" He heard the click of the gun from the fireplace, and turned to meet Jenny and her nine.

"God Jethro don't sneak up on people like that, it's going to get you shot!" She snapped lowering her gun and turning back to her activity. He looked over the edge of her couch and found Jenny seated on the ground with a pile of books in front of her.

"Uh Jenny, honey, what are you doing?" He inquired. She glared at him slightly for the endearment.

"Reading Jethro, what does it look like," she responded turning a page. He studied her closely for a second; she had one leg curled underneath her, her glasses perched on her nose flipping through books, and a notepad in front of her. If he didn't know better he would think she was studying.

"What are you reading?"

"Henry Tudor's biography, one of them, and some of Anne Boleyn's stories and the other books on Henry's wives," she replied flipping another page. He leaned over her shoulder for a minute reading the words and blanched a little at the description of the execution.

"Don't you think we've had enough decapitations lately?" He said gently trying to pull the book away from her.

"Jethro, I'm trying to get some insight here, do you mind?" She snapped pulling the book back.

"Insight on what?"

"Just insight, maybe you should just…" she paused a minute. She was a little pissed at the moment, she knew that much, but did she really want him to go home? _No, _she answered herself, knowing that she wanted him there, despite wanting to rattle his teeth as well.

"Just what?" He echoed wondering if she was angry at him for something.

"I don't know," she mumbled turning back to her books. In her mind it was inconceivable that Henry had loved six women and yet as she looked at herself she had to wonder which number she was. The questions remained whether any of them had loved him back, she wondered if perhaps it had only been the first wife or had all of them loved him in their own way. She sighed softly reading over the woman he abandon for the woman he turned the world upside down for her and the others that followed. She wondered if any of the women that followed even had a real chance, to be loved truly. It was depressing commentary, and she did not want to dwell on it. Gibbs on the other hand noticed the way her eyes seemed to glisten just a bit too much and could tell the water covering them was hidden tears. He really hated seeing her in tears. He sat down beside her taking the pad with notes from her hands and pushing the books away.

"Jenny, look at me," he said gently taking her hand and stroking her cheek. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, this is just wholly depressing."

"Yea and you get enough of that on daily basis so why are you reading more depressing stuff?"  
"Do you know your library card could expire?" She inquired.

"Library card?"

"Yes I had to renew mine apparently just to check these out, and now there are limits and the few is like a dollar, when I was a kid, I spent every other Saturday in the library."

"You could have borrowed mine," he suggested trying to figure out the logic in this conversation. She gave him her look and tried to reach for her notes again he held them out of her reach. "Jen…I went by the library too," he said holding out a book.

"Jethro really, not tonight," she sighed. "Can I just have my notes back?"

"Um…nope," he put them up higher on the table and turned back to her. "So why are you angry with me?" She tiled her head up at him. "It's for the comment earlier, yep, that's what you're angry about."

"Which one?"

"Hm…the redhead one, last time I remember you ignoring me was when I made that comment to Decker about redheads."

"Gee I can't imagine why I would ignore you after that," she sniped.

"But you see you misunderstood Director."

"Did I?" She was rather doubtful on that one.

"Yea see the thing with redheads now a days, they tend to remind me of you," he replied quietly starring at the fire in her fireplace. She turned to him surprised that he would even consider saying that, let alone mean it. "I know that's not exactly how it came out today, but that's how I meant it, I was trying to get a rise out of him, he was…irritating."

"Because he did what you wanted to do." He looked at her in a mix of shock and anger, and he wasn't quite sure which was more prevalent.

"I never even thought about it," he protested.

"Not even Diane?"

"Okay well maybe once, but I never went through with it," he sound insulted.

"I was kidding Jethro," she laughed lightly.

"You know the thing with all of them; I never really had anyone to blame but myself." Her brow furrowed.

"Jethro, Diane cheated on you."

"Yea, but it wasn't like I was home much, and Laura and Stephanie…and you."

"Jethro…" She faded off. They had talked about their past, one night when they were out of books and she had been pretty sure they absolved each other of guilt upon it, deciding it had worked out for the best. "You didn't kill them, or me."

"Yea, well that's only cause I know Abby wouldn't help me hide the bodies." She swatted his arm hard, and he chuckled deeply knowing that would at least bring a smile to her face.

"I'll get you first."

"That'll be the day," he teased pulling her close to his side. "So you want to read my book?"

"What did you get?" He held it up to her and she smiled sweetly. "_Catch-22_, interesting choice."

"I liked the first line."

"Oh really?"

"Yea I'll even read this one," he assured. Although they each picked the books, Jenny was the one who read. Jethro had managed to avoid it.

"Well in that case," she said and curled up under his arm resting her head against his shoulder. He kissed her softly before turning back to the book

"Comfy?"  
"Very."

"Okay so here we go, _It was love at first sight…_"

**END**

* * *

**History Lesson:** _On May 19th, 1536, Anne Boleyn was executed for high treason against the crown of England. She was the second wife of Henry VIII of the Tudor Dynasty, the last of which was Elizabeth I. Anne was a woman who knew what she wanted and went after it, in this case the crown of England. She succeeded and Henry turned England upside down for her, and married her in secret. Their only child was Elizabeth I, and after Anne could not conceive a son, charges for adultery were brought against her and she died from beheading in the London Tower. Of the wives after Anne most died painfully. Jane, Seymour, the one he was fondest of for giving him his only son, died in childbirth. Two following her faced the same fate as Anne, and the last managed to outlive the King. Succeeding Henry was his son, who died at a very young age and was then followed by his sister Mary. Mary refused to let her crown pass to her half sister the Protestant Princess Elizabeth. However she didn't have much of a choice having failed to produce an heir. Elizabeth I took the crown after Mary died and paved the way for England's Golden Age. During her time, Mary Queen of Scots was beheaded upon her order, the Spanish Armada was defeated, and England became officially Protestant._


	5. A Day In June

**Title: A Day in June**

**Rating: K Plus**

**Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS. **_**The Ice Dragon**_**, by George R.R. Martin belongs to him and only him. No Copyright intended.**

**Spoilers: Um…the rest of the history lessons?**

**Summary: A brief vacation for Jenny and Gibbs.**

* * *

"How did you manage this?" Gibbs demanded of his companion as he helped her board the plane. She gave an enigmatic smile and shrugged her shoulders.

"People owe me favors," she responded.

"What kind of favors?" He questioned, gripping her hand possessively.

"Not those kinds," she assured brushing her hand gently against his thigh as she stepped up the steps. "Besides, I have to go to this conference, I need a security detail. You can't be left in charge of my agency so it all works out."

"Except for the part where I now have to go to said conference," Gibbs protested. "And you know what I think about those Jen."

"Jethro stop being a whiner. Really, it's just a little international politics. They don't bite."

"Hm…they wish they could," he muttered trying to figure out how he was supposed to survive four days of other men fawning over what was his and his alone.

"Jethro," she said her tone warning him to drop it. He huffed before carefully placing her bag in the overhead compartment and grabbing the blanket. The only upside of this was they got a private plane. SecNav couldn't come but had insisted that Jenny still take his ride there. This appealed to Gibbs on multiple levels, a) he got a very long uninterrupted time with her, b) no other people meant no witnesses to any displays of affection, and c) well he hadn't quite come up with c yet. "Jethro whatever idea you're getting I suggest you forget it." Jenny's voice interrupted his thoughts and he looked over innocently.

"What ideas? I was just considering all the possible exits, after all your protection is the most important thing Madame Director," he replied.

"You know Jethro, the good thing about having a private plane…" she began leaning in closer. He smirked; they weren't even off the ground.

"What's that?"

"I can smack you and not have to worry about it," she whispered sultrily wrapping her arms around his neck and tapping the back of his head.

"Hey only I'm allowed to do that!" She giggled and pulled him towards her, the shift in the plane caused him to lose his balance and they both went to the floor, Jenny ending up on the bottom.

"Hm…what am I going to do with you for…" she paused to do the calculations. "Twelve hours."  
"Let me up for one," he suggested trying to move off her, worried he might have hurt her. She had other plans as her legs wrapped around his waist, her ankles locking.

"Jenny…" it was him issuing the warning now. She ignored him temporarily and tilted her head up kissing him softly. Sometime during the kiss she rolled them so she was on top. He didn't seem to mind till she pulled away and stood up moving towards the chair with the seatbelts. He lay stunned momentarily before getting up and joining her. "That wasn't very nice."

"I'll make it up to you, promise," she replied fastening her seatbelt as the plane gained speed and the pilot announced take off. The stewardess had been given strict orders not to bother the Director and had moved to a separate area of the plane. He watched as Jenny tightened her grip on the hand rests and took her hands into his.

"Still don't like flying," he commented. She smiled and nodded fractionally.

"Don't mind the flying so much as the taking off and landing." He held her hands tightly, gently rubbing his thumb over her palm. It was the first time they'd been on a plane together, or rather seated next to each other on plane. There had been that brief plane trip to Quebec when Ducky had gone to meet the frog. He ignored that though and just thought about the last time they'd been on a plane just the two of them. It held rather fond memories, their flight to Paris, where they'd decided to see if they could put the bathroom to good use. They had.

"Hey remember that plane flight to Paris?" She turned and looked at him with an eyebrow raised.

"Jethro don't even think it. Once was plenty thank you very much."

"Come on Jen, its not like its just a tiny bathroom, there's a whole couch back there, with blankets," he pointed out.

"And turbulence," she tacked on. The main part was she had enjoyed their exploits until the plane had hit the turbulence and then well it was still good, she just had quite a few more bruises. "Besides I have some work to do."

He said nothing simply moving back toward the couch after the pilot said they could get up. If she wasn't going to join him, he may as well catch up on some sleep during the flight. Not like there was anything else to do. They were heading for Normandy on what was going to be their first vacation as a reunited couple. Except it wasn't technically a vacation. The first two days they were there would be a conference that Jenny was expected to attend. The last two days was all theirs. One of the other team leaders had been put in charge and Gibbs cover was that a bunch of his marine buddies would be there; hence he could protect the director and hang out with some friends. If his team didn't buy that reason they didn't mention it. Tony had been left in charge, Ziva with strict instructions to smack him if he got out of hand. Gibbs hoped it would be a quiet long weekend, because he really wanted to enjoy the time he had with her.

He closed his eyes and listened to the hum of the plane as his lack of sleep finally caught up with him. He knew pulling three all nighters in a row was a bad idea, but between the case and the very short amount of time he spent with Jenny, he didn't get sleep. Jenny always told him to sleep but he never wanted to just sleep. Especially since he rarely saw her during the day, at least it seemed that way. He was just drifting into a deeper sleep when he felt someone move his arm and warmth settle beside him. He popped one eye open to find Jenny had wormed her way into his embrace and was lying against him on the couch trying to make sure she didn't fall off in the process. He rolled so that she was lying against the inside of the couch and he was basically shielding her.

"Thought you were asleep," she whispered.

"Almost."  
"Didn't mean to wake you."

"It was a pleasant interruption. Go to sleep Jenny," he said kissing her head.

"We're somewhere over the Atlantic."

"Well it'll be a while then, sleep." He said again and felt her settle against him, her head against his heart. He wrapped his arms around her and drifted back to sleep.

* * *

It turned out that they did not renew their membership to the mile high club on the way over, though Gibbs swore they would try on the way back. As he got of the plane followed by Jenny, tugging her sunglasses over her eyes, he noticed the limo waiting for them and moved towards it, carrying Jenny's small suitcase along with his bag. She had her briefcase and purse still in grasp. The driver was waiting at the trunk of the car and Gibbs looked around before handing over the bags and leading Jenny, who was oblivious over to the car door.

"Jen, you're going to have to duck," he said quietly trying to get her attention.

"Oh," came the response as she moved into the car still lost in some thought. He sat beside her watching the sites as they went by noticing how silent she was. He figured he'd leave her to her thoughts and pry once they were behind closed doors. The hotel they got out at was a beautiful old manor with elegant décor that Jenny seemed to eat up, her eyes widening at it. They'd stayed in some very nice places when they were undercover, but he wasn't sure anything had ever been this nice. They were given two rooms next to each other, but Jenny corrected them and said it should have been a suite with two rooms. They replied that that was indeed the new arrangements with the SecNav not coming.

They were shown to their room, a large suite with a living area, a bedroom off to the side and a giant patio with a private garden area. Jenny went straight out to look at the flowers as Gibbs played the Security detail and 'scanned' the room. In reality, although he did have to look for bugs, he was also checking out the bedroom and putting their bags in the room. The way SecNav had explained it there would be his suite, with his detail, and her suite with her detail. The fact that she might actually be sleeping in the same as her detail hadn't crossed his mind, which Gibbs was entirely grateful for. After Gibbs placed their suitcases down and checked the room again, he went out to the patio to find Jenny bending over to smell a flower. He checked over the area and finding it protected from the prying eye went over and wrapped his arms around her waist pulling her back to his chest. She came willingly and crossed her arms over his, relishing in the embrace and this one quiet moment that she treasured.

"You know, if Mexico gets flooded, I would quite happily live here," she commented after a minute.

"And I can still drink on the beach, works for me," he agreed teasingly as he kissed her shoulder.

"Jethro…" she laughed lightly knowing he was still set on going to Mexico in the way distant future. She turned in his embrace to meet and wrapped her arms around his neck meeting his eyes. "I know this isn't going to be much fun for you, but I promise to make it up to you after the conference."

"I already know what we're doing," he responded. She raised an eyebrow at him smirking, fairly certain she knew as well.

"Hm…what we're so very good at?" She guessed.

"That too, we're going sight seeing."

"Sight seeing?" She echoed. This was the man who fought her tooth and claw when she dragged him to the top of the Eiffel Tower. He hated sight seeing.

"Yep, but don't worry I've got it all planned, even rented a car."

"A car?" She gulped. Driving with him was always an experience, driving wit him on the wrong side of the road she was very concerned about.

"We're going to have to go to some of the shops, Abby expects presents."

"Alright, although we could just walk."

"And where's the fun in that?" She sighed conceding his point and hoping to God it was a very short car trip or that he would at least obey the speed limits.

"We have to get ready for the welcoming dinner."

"Buffet?"

"Sit down, I'm to entertain the Ambassador from France and be very specific as to the NCIS satellite office cooperating with the French police."

"I wouldn't hold your breath, I'm pretty sure there's still a warrant out for our arrest."

"Well let's hope not, I'd hate to have to steal another boat," she responded kissing his jaw before breaking away and heading to her suitcase to get her dress and makeup. Gibbs followed at it was considerably longer before she managed to even get in the shower, let alone the dress.

* * *

After two days of ass kissing, and playing nice with politicians, Jenny was ready to snap. It hadn't helped that Gibbs had lost his patience during the first evening event, which had resulted in an irreparable tear in her dress. Thankfully she had bought a different dress for every evening event and then some causal ones for after the conference. Every four hours or so during the breaks in between the meetings Gibbs would ask if he could kidnap her, or if she was ready to call it quits yet. She wasn't, but by the time everyone had retired she was wound up and the two got very little sleep. She wasn't quite sure if she had ever found men fawning over her amusing but now it was just plain irritating. She had had at least five subtle request of sexual favor and more than a few dance partners with wandering hands. She had had to physically restrain Gibbs from doing damage to the man after the fact.

The one that had pissed her off the most, an English diplomat, had very craftily led her onto the balcony alone. He had figured out she only had one security person and was unaware that a few of the US Ambassador details and the marines there were also watching out for her security. Apparently a marine had spotted the Brit and had discretely told Gibbs he was wanted outside. Gibbs had seen red, especially as Jenny placed down a wine glass and the man handed her another glass just as full. He had interrupted by saying she was needed for a phone call from the office, but it had been a ruse and after taking her out of the situation, he had dragged her for a long walk around the property so he could calm down. That had resulted in the mud that had gotten on her another dress and Gibbs swore he'd fix it later, later being after he had gotten his temper back under control. She had found it rather amusing, his jealousy being no real surprise to her, and she was thankful for it on this occasion, because where she would normally be able to convince him to let her go back to the party, he would have none of it and so their vacation part of the trip started early.

When she awoke the following morning spotting her dress still tossed over the chair, she found sunlight peaking in behind the heavy curtains and a strong arm clamped over her, holding her to a warm body. She shifted slightly so she was lying partially under him as he had apparently kicked off the sheets and she was cold. It would have been just as easier to grab the sheets and pull them back, but this was more comforting to her. He didn't respond but to tighten his hold on her and mumble her name. She closed her eyes and tried to go back to sleep, but his hands tracing from her hip to her chest distracted her.

"Jenny," came the whisper, quiet enough so that if she were asleep she would think it part of a dream, but loud enough so that if she were awake she would know he was as well.

"Hm?"

"You are awake?"

"Hm, hm."

"I'm squishing you."

"You fine, for a blanket," she mumbled tucking her head into the crook of his neck. Her cold nose touched his skin and startled him. She felt him pull the sheets back around them, shifting off her and pulling her close to warm her back up.

"So what shall we do today?" he inquired.

"You said you had a plan."

"Well we overslept, so the plan has been moved tomorrow and then we can accomplish all I had planned on the same day. So today you get to pick."

"I'm quite comfortable where I am," she replied, pulling his arm tighter around her.

"Me too." He heard her stomach growl and rubbed lightly against it. "But you're hungry and we should probably eat something since you didn't get much at dinner last night."

"Hm…whatever you want," she responded. It wasn't every day they got to sleep in, she'd enjoy it while it lasts.

"How about, I call room service, we can have breakfast in our little garden, and then we'll go for a walk around the area. Have lunch in a café, and then dinner in bed?"

"Or you could take me dancing."

"I could do that," he agreed, knowing there had been mention of that before they even left the states. "But not for long, early night, okay?"

"What's early?"  
"Bed by ten."

"Ha!"

"Don't ha, me. In bed by ten it's going to be."

"Okay," she sighed. He moved away going to the phone and ordering food, which quickly got her in gear. They had a nice quite breakfast and went for a leisurely walk around the small town they were in. They found a bookshop that Jenny wandered through, stopping in the children's aisle. Gibbs found her a few minutes later and it took him another minute to get her attention.

"Jen?"  
"Oh, we going?"  
"We can, what are you looking at?"

"Just the books."

"I think you're a little past they're level," he said gesturing to the children's sign.

"Hm…didn't you have a favorite children's book?"  
"I think I was a Winnie The Pooh kid, but Kelly's favorite book was _The Lorax_, by Dr. Seuss."

"_I am the Lorax, I speak for the tress,_" Jenny quoted.

"That's the one."

"Good book, I wanted to be a Lorax when I grew up," she reminisced. She saw him look away for a split second and immediately wrapped her arms around him, kissing his temple. "We can go if you want…"

"No, I'm good," he assured holding her close for a minute. "Kelly wanted to be a Lorax too." Jenny hugged him tightly for a moment before turning back to the books.

It was rare that he mentioned his daughter and wife, but every now and then it would just slip out. She took it as a good thing, and sat and listened never pressed for details, something he had seemed surprised about after the first time. She had simply pondered what he had said and leaned over and kissed him gently, thanking him for sharing the story. She had then returned the gesture by talking about her childhood. To Gibbs that had been more than he could have asked for, and it made him love her that much more. He watched her pick through books for a little while before noticing her eyes fall on one in particular. He watched her eyes light up in surprise before pulling the book out and opening it. He saw beautiful illustrations and large font.

"Jen?"

"Hm?"  
"Find something you like?"

"Oh no, its just that…I used to be told this story, it was a myth really but my father knew George Martin, not well but they traveled in the same circles. I was volunteering with children and I heard him read this book. I thought it was probably one of the most beautiful children's stories I'd heard. I got it for my friends' children, and donated a couple copies to the school libraries too," she explained. He had caught the unmentioned part about her own theoretical children, had she any. She quickly put the book back on the shelf and turned to him looping her arm through his. "Shall we?"

"Sure," he answered letting her lead as they left the shop and went down the street. They found lunch at a small café and enjoyed the intimacies that they had to resist when they were at work. Enjoyed not having to deal with crises, or the team's mischief. They came back early to change for dinner and Gibbs checked in with his team while Jenny checked in with Cynthia before they went out for dinner. They found a out of the way restaurant with a small dance floor and had a light dinner followed by dancing or more accurately just swaying around the floor in time to the music. As nine thirty approached Jenny knew Gibbs would be suggesting they go back soon and so they did. True to his word he had them both in bed by ten, although they didn't go to sleep till closer to one. What woke her the next morning was Jethro's hand trailing up and down her arm and his other hand toying with her hair. When she opened her eyes and saw the darkness she decided that this time she would be in control, but it surprised her when Gibbs leaned in close kissed her and the pulled away.

"Good your up, come on," he said getting up from bed.

"Up? Come where?" She said.

"Throw on some jeans and a sweater, we're going out for a bit."

"Jethro…its not even dawn," she mumbled sleepily. "We didn't go to bed till one."

"Come on, you can sleep in the car," he pleaded. He looked so excited like a child on Christmas and so she got up and pulled on some clothes not really caring if they matched or not. He had grabbed a backpack and their car keys before taking her hand in his free one and leading her down to the car. She dozed in the car not really paying attention to where they were heading but an hour later he was nudging her awake again. He helped her out of the car and she found they were at an area overlooking the water and a beach.

"Jethro?" She questioned. He took her hand tightly and led her down the steep path making sure she stayed safe before pulling her towards what looked like a bunker. She saw the crosses and the flags in the distance and it suddenly became very clear where she was, especially as he walked with her down to the shore after placing the bag down and placing a bouquet of flowers into the tide.

"Your grandfather," she guessed. He nodded. "Mine too, was on the front lines during the storming of the beach." He led her back up to their spot spreading out a blanket and sitting down with her.

"They said that morning that the water bled and no one had expected such a victory. They were expecting to go to their deaths, but then everything cooperated and it was like a sign," he explained.

"My grandfather wrote something similar. He said that no one could ever believe what had happened; he explained that it wasn't like the movies but that someday it would be one of the greatest battle scenes ever done. I've never been here before, always wanted to go but my dad wouldn't take me. My grandfather went blind here, something exploding I think. He wrote that it was the last sunrise he had ever seen and it was the most beautiful one."

"Guess everyone is of a similar mind," he said as the orange ball began to make its way into the sky.

"That's why it was too late yesterday."

"Hm hm…" She curled up against him and they watched as the sun rose into the sky over the beach that made heroes. She couldn't help the smile that split her face, he so very rarely did anything romantic but when he did, it took her breath away.

She leaned over and kissed him soundly enticing his passion in ways she would usual only do behind closed doors, but this didn't stop her. She had observed and found that they were alone, completely secluded, and they would hear anyone before they were spotted. He had seemed surprised when she launched her own assault on him but quickly fought back and found serenity in surrendering. As the sun reached into the sky signaling a more normal hour, they redressed themselves but stayed cuddling together.

"I got you something," he said reaching into the back sitting beside them.

"You don't have to buy me things you know," she sighed. She loved presents but really she had everything she wanted in him.

"Well it was partly for my own curiosity too, but I think you'll like it a lot." He handed her a rectangular object wrapped in brown paper with a green bow, she removed the bow and he took it, threading it into her hair for his amusement as she ripped of the paper. As the paper came away she was faced with a blue book cover, with a girl on a dragon soaring across it. In golden letters it read _The Ice Dragon, George RR Martin_. She felt her breath catch again, it was a wonderful warm feeling that filled her when she realized that he understood what it meant to her and that she would enjoy it so much.

"Jethro…" she sighed. "Thank you." She leaned over kissing him again.

"I noticed that we didn't break a book with us, so I thought I should get one." She opened the copy only to find it signed by the author addressed to her.

"How…"

"Oh, he's staying at the hotel next to ours, I met him the other day, didn't know who he was of course, but yea found him afterwards and asked him to sign it for you."

"Very sweet."

"I was aiming for romantic."

"That too," she assured kissing him lovingly. "But there's one more thing."

"Jen…" he drawled.

"You read this time," she suggested.

"I'm not very good at reading…aloud…"

"Why don't you let me judge that?" She tried handing him the book and curling up with her head on his chest. He heaved a sigh before opening the book and beginning.

"_Adara liked the winter best of all, for when the world grew cold the ice dragon came…_"

**THE END**

* * *

**June's History Lesson: **

_On June 6__th__, 1944, World War Two was spreading all across the globe. Both France and Belgium had become territories of the Third Reich and the allies were striving for a victory. The morning of June 6__th__ dawned and General Dwight D. Eisenhower led one of the most amazing and successful amphibious attacks onto the Normandy coast. Within a week sixty miles of beach were occupied by the allied forces and this number continued to grow as the Allies began to make their way inland, liberating France and Belgium in the process. It is possibly one of the greatest maneuvers of all naval warfare history, and was at turning point for World War Two. _


	6. Shadow of Destiny

**Title: The Shadow of Destiny **

**Rating: T**

**Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of its characters. I also do not own **_**The Scarlet Pimpernel**_** by ****Baroness Emmuska Orczy**

**Summary: Groundhog's Day! **

**Author's Note: Do not think this is me leaving my hiatus. This is me dealing with the never-ending snow! **

**

* * *

**

"Well Happy Groundhogs Day folks! The forecast for today is probably sounding familiar," the TV reporter drowned on. "Snow and Ice conditions. Commuters should be extra careful and allow for time to reach their destinations. Well keep you up to date with live reports ever ten minutes. We're also going live to the home of the groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, at his home in Punxsutawney, Pa, enthusiasts are certainly…"

"HEY! I was watching that!" Came the indignant female shriek.

"Jenny, if I hear one more word about that damn groundhog I'm going to shoot it," came the gruff reply. The redhead standing in front of the TV sighed and turned toward her partner, in every sense of the word, and attempted to smile.

"Don't tell me the big bad Marine is bothered by a little snow."

"A LITTLE?" Jenny shrugged ignoring the five-foot mounds of snow blocking the view of the street outside her townhouse.

"It's not that bad," she tried to sound optimistic.

"You've worn nothing but snow boots for the last three months, you can't tell me you're happy about that." Well, she wasn't, _damn snow,_ she cursed silently. "Come on," Leroy Jethro Gibbs called gently. "We better leave early."

"You want to know the real reason I hate the snow," Jenny posed.

"Besides the lack of high heel wearing?"

"Besides that." He nodded wondering what would come out of her mouth this time. "My wake up sex," she said bluntly. He nearly ran into the front door she loved so much.

"What?" He seemed surprised. So they weren't rabbits but then again they were older now, he hadn't lost his stamina and she could never pace herself, so he failed to see the point.

"We have to leave earlier to get to work on time because of the weather…you haven't noticed?"

"Uh…no, I noticed," he tried. He hadn't truly noticed the lack, but then again cuddling up with her on cold winter nights was always just as good. She rolled her eyes and continued out the door, now bundled up in snow gear. Jethro followed her, placing his hand on her lower back helping her navigate the icy areas to his truck. "Could always use the elevator."

"Oh yes, and Tony would win how much?"

"I bet you if we split it with him…" There was another eye roll as she closed the door and watched him walk around to the driver's side and get in. He put the car in reverse and turned to her briefly, only to hear a giant crunch.

"What was that?" Jenny asked. Jethro cursed as he looked in the rear view mirror. "JETHRO! Was that my mailbox?"

"Possibly."

"Great, now we are going to be late." At that moment both cell phones rang loudly. Jenny looked to hers "Ziva."

"Tony."

"WHAT?" came the joint response into the phone. Jenny's phone call lasted roughly thirty-second as Ziva spit out what she had to say. Tony was not as fortunate as he attempted a justification. A minute and half later Gibbs closed his phone.

"Ziva?" He asked.

"She can't get her car out. She's stuck. Tony?"

"Apparently he tried to get her car out and is stuck."

"Uh huh," Jenny sighed. Sometimes she wished they both could follow the rules a little better. "Well there goes rule 12."

"Don't even…." Again the phone rang, this time only Jenny's.

"Shepard." Gibbs could hear a muffled voice and Jenny agreeing and pretending to be interested. "Thank you, I'll be sure to pass it along." She closed her phone.

"So?"

"The Naval Yard is closed to non necessary personnel."

"Are you in that category?"  
"According to SECNAV, I am."

"So we have the day off?" Jethro asked his tone turning smooth.

"I guess." They got out of the car and headed back into the house. Jenny turned the TV back on and listened to the news and the weather. Gibbs made them both more coffee and sat down next her enjoying the way she curled up.

"We could go address your earlier complaint," he told her.

"I just want to see the groundhog." She turned the volume up.

"Well apparently Phil is running a little late this year. Guess he thought it was okay to sleep in on his big day," the reporter said.

"You've got the right of it Nancy, that or he's terrified of disappointing his adoring fans." A commentator said.

"Off all the bloody days," Jenny muttered.

"We could go there and shoot a warning shot into the burrow?"

"If he sees his damn shadow I will shoot him," Jenny promised. Jethro wrapped his arm around her pulling her close and kissing her temple. "If miss this I will shoot you."

"You don't mean that," he teased. She glared. "We could start another book while we wait. You finished the other one last night."

"Fine. Go pick one." As if on cue he pulled an old worn book from the table beside the couch. "You want to read this?"

"Is it not a good story?"

"No, I just…" she faded off. She truly loved the old book, but for Jethro…she wasn't sure.

"Well then read away." She took a deep breath.

"Paris; September, 1792…A surging, seething, murmuring crowd of beings that are human only in name, for to the eye and ear they seem naught but savage creatures, animated by vile passions and the lust of vengeance and hate…" Jenny who was entrancing Jethro with her passionate voice was interrupted by the TV.

"AND we're back to the Groundhogs Day Celebration where Phil is just emerging from his den," the report said loudly. "Here is the President of the Inner Circle, he's placing Phil on his stump."

"As you can see Nancy, the crowd here is waiting with baited breath, and we're getting in the report now."

"Dave?" Nancy questioned.

"HE hasn't seen his shadow. Ladies and Gentlemen it's official spring is on its way."

"Well I'm sure that's wonderful news for all our viewers and now back to the weather, John?"

"Well Nancy, it looks like spring may still be a few weeks off, we're getting in reports of possible blizzard conditions for Saturday…" The TV clicked off.

"I hate snow," Jenny announced.

"Well cheer up Jen, the groundhog didn't see his shadow."

"Clearly he's not that accurate if there's a blizzard coming!"

"Jen…" Jethro trailed off instead leaning down to kiss her gentle. "Think of the possibilities if we get snowed in."

"Did you forget we're having the team for dinner on Saturday." Silence met her comment.

"We should cancel that," Jethro said after a minute.

"You don't want to be snowed in with Abby and the rest of the team?"

"Um…no. Damn groundhog. Clearly a wrong prediction."

"Oh sure, now it's okay for you to say that." He could have made a comment but instead picked up Jenny and the book sitting on her lap and began moving towards the stairs. "Jethro!"

"What? If Spring is really coming maybe we should encourage it along, morning sex and all that," he teased. Her laugh followed them up the stairs.

* * *

**Author's Note 2: Yes I realize it's short, but I'm sitting in class and really the muse is basically dead. For the history, Groundhog's Day is mainly a US Celebration in which a groundhog is placed upon a stump, if he sees his shadow it's six more week of bad weather, if he doesn't spring will come early. The origins of the tradition are mysterious. There's a possibility it was a Native American tradition and there are rumors that Romans and Gaelic had a similar tradition as well. February 2****nd**** is considered Groundhog's Day and this morning Punxsutawney Phil DID NOT see his shadow, suggesting an early spring. For those of us, where winter has been particularly miserable it's a nice thing to believe in. **


End file.
